World News - Top General Backs Away From Iran Claim Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Says No Indication That Iranian Government Arming Iraq Militants

The top U.S. military officer said Tuesday the discovery that roadside bombs in Iraq contained material made in Iran does not necessarily mean the Iranian government was involved in supplying insurgents. The comments by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called into question assertions by three senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad on Sunday who said the highest levels of Iranian government were responsible for arming Shiite militants in Iraq with the bombs, blamed for the deaths of more than 170 troops in the U.S.-led coalition. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday he was confident the weaponry was coming with the approval of the Iranian government. Pace told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, that U.S. forces hunting militant networks in Iraq that produced roadside bombs had arrested Iranians and some of the materials used in the devices were made in Iran.... http://www.cbsnews.com

Iraq's government said on Tuesday it had closed its borders with Syria and Iran, and extended the hours of a night curfew in Baghdad under a U.S.-backed security plan to rein in violence in the capital.The measures ordered by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki were announced on Iraqiya state television by Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar, the Iraqi commander who is leading the security offensive in Baghdad. He said the borders would be closed for 72 hours. The measure extends Baghdad's night vehicle curfew of 11 p.m.-6 a.m. to 8 p.m.-6 a.m. Baghdad's international airport, which has been closed down in security operations in the past, will not be affected. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2871652

The authorities are investigating whether there are links between drug cartels and the mayor of the south-western Mexican city of Acapulco. Welcoming the inquiry, Mayor Felix Salgado said he was "clean". In the latest drug-related violence, seven people were shot dead last week in government offices in the city. In recent months, thousands of federal troops and police have been sent to Acapulco and other parts of Mexico to tackle drug-related crime. Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia said investigators would determine whether Mayor Salgado had tried to cover up the cartel's activities. He also said the municipal police were being investigated. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/americas/6357275.stm

An American engineer working for Qatar's state-owned energy company has been sentenced to life in prison for spying, a Doha-based newspaper reported. The 51-year-old American was convicted last week after being arrested in a police sting operation in 2005, the Gulf Times reported, citing court sources. The paper identified the man as John Willis Downs from Arabic language court using a phonetic spelling of his name. The paper did not say how long he had been in Qatar or where he was from in the United States. Court testimony claimed the man, a senior engineer who worked for 10 years at Doha-based Qatar Petroleum, was attempting to sell sensitive information about a Qatari government natural gas project to a foreign embassy. The newspaper, which published the report Monday, did not identify the embassy....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-02-13-qatar-engineer_x.htm?csp=34

A major snowstorm was moving through the U.S. Midwest causing transportation hang-ups, making it difficult to move grain and livestock to terminal markets, a private forecaster said on Tuesday. The heaviest snow of 3 to 6 inches fell across central Illinois, Indiana and Ohio in the past day. Snow was still falling Tuesday morning with some Midwest areas expected to see a total of 6 to 12 inches. The hardest hit will be the central sections of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio."Certainly transportation will be problematic along and south of Interstate 80 -- northern Iowa, Des Moines and across the eastern Midwest," said Mike Palmerino, a forecaster with DTN Meteorlogix.Temperatures will be turning colder. Highs east of the Mississippi River will be in the 20s to low 30s Fahrenheit on Tuesday. Then it will turn sharply colder, with highs in the teens and lows below zero to 10 F from Wednesday through Friday....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070213/ts_nm/weather_midwest_dc

Two bombs have exploded minutes apart near the Lebanese capital, killing three people and wounding 20 others. The casualties were travelling on two buses near Bikfaya, a mainly Christian town in the hills north of Beirut. Initial reports said 12 people had died. Investigators sealed off the area to collect evidence from the wrecks. The bombings come at a time of acute political tension in Lebanon, and a day before the second anniversary of the killing of former PM Rafik Hariri. Organisers of a mass rally planned in downtown Beirut on Wednesday to mark the Hariri assassination said there were no plans to cancel it. Lebanese radio said the buses were passing through the village of Ain Alaq, just south of Bikfaya. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6356271.stm